Monthly Archives: July 2012

In the effort to save time, energy and frustration, Fix-iPhones at RepairLabs wanted to bring you a few friendly tips and reminders of all the nifty things your iPad and and iPhone could do. We wanted to show you just a few tips and hacks that make using these great little devices even more fun. Everybody wants to get the most out of their iPhones, and these little tips and tricks can help.

iPhone Tip #1

Take a screenshot.

Ever have an excellent text conversation that you want to remember? Or perhaps post to Damn You Autocorrect? Get a high score? Siri say something hysterical? Take a screen shot. It’s simple. For this tip, all you have to do is press and hold the power button and the Home button at the same time. Make sure you’re holding both buttons at the same time. The screen flashes when it takes the picture. Then it magically appears on your Cameral Roll in your Photos app.

iPhone Tip #2

Return to the top of the Page.

Do you ever scroll way down to the bottom of a page and just not want to mess with scrolling back up? Simple tip to fix: Tap the top bar where the time and battery live appear. This little tip automatically takes you back to the top of the page. Now you are a power user.

iPad Tip #3

Split Screen Typing for iPad

Just HATE typing on your iPad. Really, it is impossible. But it *would* be easier to it with only thumbs, on the iPhone. But my thumbs are damnably short! They’ll never reach to the ‘G’ and ‘H.’ Enter split screen typing. Really these Apple guys do think of everything. To work this tip, just open up your keyboard, and press and hold the keyboard button. From the Arrow Down, select split screen, and utilize your already well-developed texting skills on your iPad.

Hopefully these tips, tricks and hack can make your time with your iPhone just a little more fun, and help you to win friends and impress people.

A few fun tips, tricks, hacks, and ideas to integrate your iPhone, beer and lifestyle.

There is very little that the iPhone cannot do, or improve upon. I bet you didn’t know it could improve your beer experience. That’s right. Since we’re in the middle of a heat wave, and everybody fantasizes about cracking open a cold one, I thought I’d put a Fix-iPhones.com spin on the idea, and show everybody how the iPhone can help you get your drink on.

iPhone Beer Opener

Check out this Opena iPhone case that acts as a lever bottle opener to protect your phone. I’m invisioning a future Swiss Army iPhone case that has a zillion survival capabilities, including Taser toothpick and nail clipper. But this is an excellent start.

The power block HACK for iPhone Beer Opening.

Have you seen this one? You simply use your power block from your iPhone, iPad or MacBook to break into a cold one. WAAAY better than using your teeth. Image repined via John Ludwig on Pinterest. Original source unavailable.

iPhone Beer Apps

Always looking for that next beautiful craft beer. Mosey on over and have a little look at this well-reviewed app. Craft Beer App by Affect Global has an extensive library of beers, each described in meaty detail. You can also rate and share your various beer experiences. Also has videos!

Need an alarm to remind you to drink your beer once you clock out? Neither do we, but this is a fun Instagram style app that allows you to share your good taste and Beer Preferences with your social networks, and to celebrate getting off work with a little good natured fun. Check out the New Belgium Beer App here.

And monitor your consumption of beer in this app, BeerStat. You can count your calories and set daily and weekly limits for moderation.

And finally, RepairGenius would like to remind you to please drink responsibly. Never drink and drive. All of these iPhone Beer ideas are fun, but none are worth someone getting hurt.

Sitting down with our CEO, Content and Social Media Manager, Webmaster and Head of Design, we hatched a plan. Our goal was to create a program we could empower our customers to give, and educate them on the worthy causes we support. We wanted to create a system where our customers could easily and inexpensively give to good causes. From that meeting we developed Operation HERO: Help Each Repair Overcome. With the help of our customers, we want to overcome diabetes, challenges faced by wounded vets, cruelty to animals, and many other issues that touch our lives.

We decided that the best way to facilitate that was to create a “Donation at Checkout” option. Now our customers can choose to add $1, $5…$20…even $100 to their total to go to an organization that makes a real impact in the world. Additionally we decided to use our social profiles to get out the charities’ messages: tweeting, blogging, facebooking their messages out to our audiences and spreading the word to help them reach their goals. We were so excited about this program that we began brainstorming what else we could do. We want to create infographics, videos, buzz and enthusiasm about these great causes.

Now, when “tragedy” strikes and your iPhone, or iPad breaks, you can take that weakness and turn it into a strength, just like the Batman did when he turned his fear of bats into the awesomest super hero persona ever. Ok, well maybe not just like that, but you’re still creating a real positive out of a huge bummer. And speaking of super heroes, we plan to include our own little hero in each of our charity pages to encourage everybody to keep clicking and learning about all of our organizations.

One of our super heroes.

The bottom line is that every single dollar helps. Everyone can contribute. Everyone can be a hero. Every dollar goes directly to your charity. And the best part: we will match every donation up to $100, so each donation counts for double. Doubling your gift? That really is a super power.

This fantastic organization is a top rated cause onCharityNavigator.org. That means that they are committed to using donor funds in the most efficient way possible. $0.96 of every dollar goes directly to their programs, not administrative costs. They also have in place strong policies of accountability and effectiveness and positive impact.

But the real reason that we wanted to work with them is the amazing work that they do. Already they have funded 260 separate research studies to treat, prevent and cure diabetes. They have 20 years of experience in focusing on alternative research and education.

They state their mission as:

“The Diabetes Action Research and Education Foundation (Diabetes Action), a non-profit 501(c)3 organization founded in 1990, is committed to the prevention and treatment of diabetes and to the funding of innovative, promising research aimed at finding a cure for diabetes and diabetes related complications.”

They focus on funding research for a cure, research on nutrition, research to prevent and treat diabetes and international medical assistance. Among some of their really exciting programs are a children’s diabetes camp scholarship program, and American Indian diabetes prevention program. They also run theDiabetes University, an interactive online educational program for patients. One study that they are currently funding (which we detailhere) offers hope for a cure in the use of a drug called BCG, with its role in protecting the pancreas from disease causing T cells.

At RepairLabs, we truly believe we will see a cure in our lifetimes, and we want to help get there. We believe that each time we donate together, we get that much closer to ending this disease.

In our experience here at RepairLabs, there are a few things that you can do to save your water damaged iPhone. Yes, there are a TON of people out there on the internets who claim they know the right way to save a water damaged iPhone.

Plonk. That awful sound when you realize your phone is in the toilet.

Facepalm. That awful moment when you know you’re going to have to fish it out. Fast.

But now what? Now that you know your phone has water damage, what do you do? You get on the Internet and figure out how to save it. You read five or ten articles and they tell you the same things over and over. Put it in rice. Remove the SIM card. Take out the battery. Big help. Only an expert with a specialized jewelry flathead screwdriver can get the battery out of an iPhone. And the rice trick is dubious at best. We know that everybody on the internet swears by it. This is the guide that will tell you what really works and what doesn’t. It’ll probably say some unpopular things, going against common Net wisdom, so we’ll get all the Heresy out of the way right at the beginning.

The Myths of How to Save a Water Damaged iPhone.

So, should you really put it in a bag of rice, or is that just a myth? It sure makes ya feel better. Almost like you have some control over the situation. Yes, rice is a desiccant, just like those silica gel packs you find in beef jerky bags. They keep things from getting…chewy. If you want to leave it in rice while you wait your 48 hours, be our guest. It can’t really hurt anything. To try the rice trick, simply seal your phone in a Ziploc full of rice, making sure to get all the extra air out of it. Leave your water damaged iPhone off for at least 48 hours in the rice. But we’ve fixed hundreds of wet, water damaged iPhones here, and you wouldn’t believe how many of those actually arrive here in that bag of rice. It just doesn’t help. It doesn’t do anything but waste rice.

Other people recommend silica gel packs or desiccant, but we rarely have those on hand, and time is of the essence in taking out the moisture. Rust and corrosion can begin to develop in one day.

DON’T: Shake your iPhone to get out any extra water that was in it. It seems like a really great idea, but it’s not. You want to prevent the water from moving across any circuitry. This is when you can actually do extra damage causing shorts and corrosion that you wouldn’t have otherwise.

DON’T: Worry about taking out the SIM card. You can’t remove the iPhone’s battery, and we don’t recommend trying, given all the delicate innards of the device.

DON’T: try sucking out the extra moisture with a vacuum cleaner hose and nozzle. This is just is another opportunity for water to move across more circuitry.

DON’T put it in the oven. This can melt tiny pieces of logic board. We’ve actually fixed a phone that someone put in the oven to dry out. Never put a water damaged iPhone in the microwave. This will destroy both the phone and the microwave, and then burn your entire house down.

So what SHOULD you do?

Water Damaged iPhone Triage. What to do:

Okay, so your phone has gone swimming.

Your warranty is now void. Don’t worry about voiding it. iPhone warranties don’t cover water damage, and remember, you can’t trick the guys at Apple. They have liquid sensors all over those little phones. Check out what they look like here. You’ll see white strips, some with red stripes, inside your phone (in the headphone jack, for instance) that will turn pink or bleed if the phone’s been exposed to water damage. We’ve repaired hundreds of cell phones and these are the things that we know from experience that work:

Get that phone out of the water ASAP.

THIS IS THE MOST IMPORTANT PART: Power it off immediately. If it hasn’t already powered off, turn it off. If it won’t stop “Pinwheeling” or you can’t “slide to power off,” do a hard shutdown (press the home button and the screen button and hold for 10 seconds until the device powers off). This is critical; it’s your best chance to save your device.

Remove all peripherals and covers attached to the phone.

If it’s been totally submerged in salt water or chlorinated water, go ahead and rinse it in tap water. This will prevent the chlorinated and salt water from crystalizing in your device, again causing shorts. If your iPhone was just splashed or sprinkled, it doesn’t count. Only do this if your device was submerged and soaked.

Gently blow dry with a hairdryer on the lowest setting. Many articles say to never do this. They believe you are stupid and will melt your own logic boards. We think you’re smart enough to work a hair dryer. Keep the dryer moving at all times and don’t let the phone get hot. 15 minutes should be plenty. The idea is to evaporate the moisture without moving it across any more circuitry, exposing it to more possible short outs. The important part is to get a warm steady stream of dry air, so in theory you could even leave it in front of the heater vent overnight with the same effect.

Leave it alone for at least 48 hours before you even THINK of turning it back on. If it’s going to come back to life, this is your chance. 48 hours at a miniumum, 72 is better. Utilize this time to unplug, and reconnect with your family. (Hear 1950s informational film voice.) If the device was in the water for more than a minute, at least 6-7 days.

If you are stout of heart, and can stand submerging the device again you can try an alcohol bath, as FiscalGeek explains in this great article. Alcohol won’t harm your phone (any more than it’s already been harmed by the water damage), and will dry out any extra moisture in it. You’ll need denatured alcohol. (Available at Walmart and hardware stores, usually around the paint sections.)A 95% alcohol solution is best (rubbing alcohol is around 75%), and not suitable for human consumption. Please do not submerge your phone in Cake Vodka. Or any vodka.

Get a container slightly larger than the phone, and fill with alcohol.

Remove any plugs or covers on the phone, so that the liquid can get it.

Submerge your phone in the liquid. You may need to weight it down.

Gently jiggle the container around to make certain the alcohol can flush out all of the water.

Soak it for at least 5 minutes. You can repeat this step if you aren’t successful the first time.

Take your iphone out of the liquid and let it dry. The alcohol evaporates very quickly but you want to be certain no water remains that can cause short-outs.

The overarching theme of all the research I’ve done on this leads to one point. You don’t turn that phone back on. No matter how worried you are or how upset or how much you just really really neeeed to see if you got any text messages. This is the time that short circuits can occur. You must give it time for all that water to dry out and prevent further damage.

If after 72 hours or an alcohol bath it won’t power back on, it’s time to send it in to us. Sometimes, even if it does come back to life, it’s sustained some corrosion damage from the moisture. (What we’re aiming to prevent with the alcohol bath.) It may power on but behave erratically with different functionalities of the phone working and not. Water damage does some weird stuff to an iPhone, like making it vibrate at the wrong times, or making the WiFi not work.

The good news is that it’s fixable. Even if Apple won’t, we fix ‘em all the time, and it’s almost always cheaper to fix a water damaged iPhone than to replace it. (We can do it for as little as forty bucks.) You can see some of our water damage fix options here.